As described in PCT Patent Application Ser. No. US2004/036446 filed Nov. 2, 2004 entitled Dual Frequency Through-the-wall Motion Detection and Ranging Using Difference-Based Estimation Technique, invented by Paul Zemany and Eldon Sutphin, it is possible using two-tone CW radars to obtain the range to a moving object behind a wall or other structure, even when the object is executing a random motion. This system is a model-based system in which the phase difference between the returned versus transmitted energy for the first tone and the second tone result in two waveforms, each permitting specifying the temporal phase difference between the two respective tones. Range to a randomly moving object is accomplished by comparing data associated with real-time returns to templates, using a matching algorithm to determine range. Part of the matching includes a predictor that predicts from one waveform corresponding to the phase difference for a first tone the waveform phase difference for the second tone. This system is described in detail hereinafter.
The result is that for a single two-tone radar, one can develop a swath corresponding to possible range of the individual or moving object to the single radar.
While such range determinations from a single radar are useful to determine the range of a moving individual from an individual radar, it is more desirable to be able to pinpoint the location of the individual as opposed to determining his or her range.
Range, of course, determines how far the individual is from the single radar so that, for instance, firemen can know how far into a burning building an individual is. This provides a first baseline of information as to where to search for the individual.
It does not, however, pinpoint the individual, but rather locates the individual on an arc or swath having the single radar as its focus.
By way of further background, as described in PCT Patent Application PCT/US04/30116 filed Sep. 14, 2004 by Paul Zemany and Eldon Sutphin, a system is described for projecting continuous wave radar energy through a wall to be able to detect motion of persons behind the wall. In this system, motion is detected by a change in the phase difference between the transmitted wave and the received wave, which is sensitive in detecting motion.
However, the use of a single frequency radar does not permit the detection of range to the moving individual and may provide less-than-adequate information to individuals, for instance when trying to detect the whereabouts of a moving individual behind a wall.
As described in the afore-mentioned Patent Application by Zemany and Sutphin, detecting motion behind a wall is extremely useful in both civilian and military applications. For instance, locating the whereabouts of a down firefighter in a burning building is of consequence for firefighters, whereas detecting the position of an individual behind a wall may be of significant interest to military forces seeking to capture or remove the individual from being a threat.
Moreover, knowing not only that the motion has occurred but also range, one can estimate what it will take to provide personnel to rescue, for instance, an individual within a burning building. Range also is important to be able to ascertain where a wanted individual is so that the individual can be captured.
It will be appreciated that in the past, ultra wideband devices have been used as ground-penetrating and through-the-wall radars. The difficulty with ultra wideband approaches is that one has to generate short pulses, which requires fairly expensive hardware. A particular difficulty with ultra wideband is that walls have frequency-dependent attenuation. This results in a distortion of the return pulses that pass through the wall. This distortion blurs the pulse, making it hard to correlate. Moreover, in ultra wideband applications, one must integrate over multiple pulses in order to obtain enough processing gain to detect objects inside a building. In this regard, in ultra wideband systems, one has to generate a stream of pulses. The problem with generating streams of pulses is the existence of clutter and with an ultra wideband pulsed radar, one detects everything within a room. One therefore has to have a means for discriminating clutter from background, which ultra wideband systems do not do.
As will be appreciated, what is therefore described in the above continuation-in-part application is an easily portable, low cost, low power drain, compact unit that can be positioned outside a building and that can detect motion of individuals within the building, discriminate against non-moving inanimate objects and at the same time provide range to the detected moving object.